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| Europe | |
| The shoppers ignored the moral criticism and surged inside... | |
| 2007-09-13 | |
| Plate-glass broke and bargain-hunters were crushed as 5,000 shoppers stormed past helpless police into a new Berlin shopping mall early Wednesday. Anti-greed demonstrators chanted condemnation of the crowd that had gathered outside the Alexa mall to await the midnight opening of the first shop, an electrical appliance retailer advertising thousands of specials. The shoppers ignored the moral criticism and surged inside.
The dark-pink building with 180 shops faces Alexanderplatz, a wide Berlin square which used to be the home of the better shops in communist East Germany's ramshackle economy. The 290-million-euro (400-million-dollar) Alexa shopping centre is the 56th mall to open in Berlin, which promotes itself today as the "poor but sexy" city. Despite high local unemployment, more covered malls are planned. The rest of the mall opened for business at 7 am, but Media Markt, a chain of 469 electrical-goods stores in 14 countries, had chosen a midnight opening for maximum public impact. | |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #10 Didn't the Commies learn anything from AL Bundy and Monty Python movies > "Is it true what they say, God, are you a big fat woman?"; and NOTHING STOPS THE RABBIT! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-09-13 23:30 |
| #9 Don't forget the train station, TW. ;-p I can't believe the German gummint allowed the mall to be open a midnight. What happened to the 6pm (8 during Christmas) closing times? What's this world coming to? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-09-13 23:23 |
| #8 When we lived near Frankfurt, the only places to get milk on Sundays were the Frankfurt airport and a few gas stations. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-13 19:57 |
| #7 PJ O'Rourke: "Communism is the only system that could take Germans and turn them into paupers." |
| Posted by: mom 2007-09-13 19:40 |
| #6 Not only that, lotp. Germany has strict blue laws; few stores are allowed to be open on Sunday and open late at night. So, consumers have fewer choices. If they're getting away from that now, that's good. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-09-13 14:40 |
| #5 This is why communism failed. People want stuff. People have always wanted stuff. People will always want stuff. So outta the way anti-greedheads or get stampeded into the dust... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-13 14:17 |
| #4 The shoppers ignored the moral criticism and surged inside... No power on Earth can stop Women in the Flying Wedge Formation Descending upon Holy Mall Bargains. For it is written in acient Sears cuneiform, "Let no Man or Beaste come between Them She-Shoppers and the Objects they Desire!!" |
| Posted by: Way Skered 2007-09-13 13:42 |
| #3 This is an interesting incident, actually. It's not all that long ago that East Germany had virtually no consumer goods and no money to buy them with. And that West Germany heavily controlled the hours during which shops could be open. Yet another victory for the forces of relentless capitalsm harnessed by consumer demand. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-13 12:08 |
| #2 Paging Scott Beauchamp! Paging Stephen Glass! Paging Jason Blair! Pick up the white courtesy phone please. Plate-glass broke and bargain-hunters were crushed as 5,000 shoppers stormed past helpless police into a new Berlin shopping mall early Wednesday. The front door shattered in the rush and people were knocked aside. Limping shoppers and injured staff were taken away by ambulance. The rest of the mall opened for business at 7 am, but Media Markt, a chain of 469 electrical-goods stores in 14 countries, had chosen a midnight opening for maximum public impact. Which they got. I wonder how much Media Market had to pay the guy for the Shattered Glass. |
| Posted by: Unutle McGurque8861 2007-09-13 11:57 |
| #1 Translation: The shoppers ignored the usual whinging suspects and got a bargain. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-09-13 09:24 |